Constantin appeal rejected but Ecclestone ordered to pay costs

Formula 1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone’s legal troubles took a turn for the better this week.

After the German media group Constantin filed an appeal against the recent High Court ruling, a judge on Thursday rejected the application.

Justice Newey said if Constantin “wished to pursue the issue it would have to apply to the court of appeal,” the Financial Times reported.

Constantin’s lawyer confirmed the company will indeed be “robustly pursuing its appeal”, having lost the initial case surrounding the Gerhard Gribkowsky bribery affair.

Meanwhile, Formula 1 business journalist Christian Sylt told us that Constantin was on Thursday also ordered to pay substantial legal costs — $10 million of its own, $10m to the Bambino trust and $2.5m to former advisor Stephen Mullens.

Ecclestone, however, was ordered by Justice Newey to pay half of his own whopping $13 million in legal costs as a result of having given “untruthful evidence” and being an “unreliable” witness. (GMM)